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Utah House rejects bill that would criminalize failure to call 911 in narrow emergencies
Summary
After a lengthy floor debate about criminalizing inaction and prosecutorial discretion, the House voted 20–51 to defeat Representative King’s first-substitute HB125, a narrowly drawn measure that would have made failure to call 911 a class B misdemeanor when someone observes a crime or emergency causing serious bodily injury.
Representative John King (sponsor) described first substitute House Bill 125 as a narrowly targeted ‘‘duty to assist’’ designed to require bystanders who observe crimes or emergencies causing serious bodily injury to dial 911. ‘‘The bill makes it a class B misdemeanor to fail to call 911 if you observe a crime or an emergency that is causing or has caused serious bodily injury,’’ King said during his floor presentation, citing the statutory definition of serious bodily injury in the criminal code.
Opponents raised constitutional and practical concerns over criminalizing inaction. Representative Nelson…
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